Citation

Author Website

https://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/messerli/science/ethik/staff/susana-monso/

Thread

Colin A. Chapman and Michael A. Huffman, Why do we want to think humans are different?

Abstract

Chapman & Huffman argue that humans are neither unique nor superior to other animals. I believe they are right in claiming that we are no more unique than any other species, but wrong in assuming that this means we cannot be ranked as superior. I show how this need not undermine the central aim of their target article, for superiority can only be measured with respect to a certain standard, and it’s only by using anthropocentric standards that we can be plausibly regarded as superior. Other — perhaps more neutral — standards yield different results.

Author Biography

Susana Monsó is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Unit of Ethics and Human-Animal Studies of the Messerli Research Institute in Vienna. She works in philosophy of animal minds and animal ethics. Website

DOI

10.51291/2377-7478.1389